A rare chance to change the landscape

CAMBRIDGE — The landscape transformed late last week at the Rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge as fourth-year architecture students descended upon it.

Eleven teams of five to six students from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture were assigned to enhance the site in some physical way as part of a class project.

Associate professor Elise Shelley, who teaches theory and design in the contemporary landscape, said student work over the past five years caught the attention of Esther Shipman, a curator of the partner projects at Cambridge Galleries’ Common Ground exhibition.

Installations for ARCH 425 are divided between the Springbank Farm and Slit Barn sites, weaving themselves into the landscape in dreamlike art installations or more functional forms.

Shelley says the projects are inherently temporary with most of them more akin to art installations than a functional piece of architecture.

In the grassy field beyond the Slit Barn parking lot, a flowing organic form stretches out like a huge amoeba.

It was built from a wire frame and foam strips.

Petra Bogias said her team of five was inspired by Montreal-based Claude Cormier and Associates.

“Taking this foreign object in a field to allow the viewer to experience the site in a different way,” said Bogias. “The wind patterns interact with and introduce a new vertical field experience at different angles.”

She said it’s a nice feeling as students to see your drawings become something tangible that the community can interact with.

“The different ways that they come up with interacting with it … in ways that you wouldn’t have thought on your own.”

Across the road, and up into the community gardens, architect Dan Kiley inspired Jean Gu and her team of four others who noticed the need for water — the source of life for the gardens and those working there.

“We wanted to make something that would give back,” said Gu.

The team proposed a structure that would bring more functionality to the existing large water barrels, while incorporating a shaded micro-climate rest area framed toward the gardens.

The two compact cubist forms raise the barrels to provide enough gravity for the water to reach nearby garden patches. Sitting beneath the trestle roof cools the outdoor temperature by at least two to three degrees.

Gu said the team took the project from concept to completion in two weeks with a budget of $250.

“We just had a simple idea and said, ‘Well let’s go for it,’ ” said Gu. “We pushed our way through and made it work.”

The team now hopes the community will consider keeping these as permanent structures, with plans to build two more, modified from the lessons learned on the first two.

Five other Common Ground Partner Projects incorporate design and architecture.

A rare chance to change the landscape

CAMBRIDGE — The landscape transformed late last week at the Rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge as fourth-year architecture students descended upon it.

Eleven teams of five to six students from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture were assigned to enhance the site in some physical way as part of a class project.

Associate professor Elise Shelley, who teaches theory and design in the contemporary landscape, said student work over the past five years caught the attention of Esther Shipman, a curator of the partner projects at Cambridge Galleries’ Common Ground exhibition.

Installations for ARCH 425 are divided between the Springbank Farm and Slit Barn sites, weaving themselves into the landscape in dreamlike art installations or more functional forms.

Shelley says the projects are inherently temporary with most of them more akin to art installations than a functional piece of architecture.

In the grassy field beyond the Slit Barn parking lot, a flowing organic form stretches out like a huge amoeba.

It was built from a wire frame and foam strips.

Petra Bogias said her team of five was inspired by Montreal-based Claude Cormier and Associates.

“Taking this foreign object in a field to allow the viewer to experience the site in a different way,” said Bogias. “The wind patterns interact with and introduce a new vertical field experience at different angles.”

She said it’s a nice feeling as students to see your drawings become something tangible that the community can interact with.

“The different ways that they come up with interacting with it … in ways that you wouldn’t have thought on your own.”

Across the road, and up into the community gardens, architect Dan Kiley inspired Jean Gu and her team of four others who noticed the need for water — the source of life for the gardens and those working there.

“We wanted to make something that would give back,” said Gu.

The team proposed a structure that would bring more functionality to the existing large water barrels, while incorporating a shaded micro-climate rest area framed toward the gardens.

The two compact cubist forms raise the barrels to provide enough gravity for the water to reach nearby garden patches. Sitting beneath the trestle roof cools the outdoor temperature by at least two to three degrees.

Gu said the team took the project from concept to completion in two weeks with a budget of $250.

“We just had a simple idea and said, ‘Well let’s go for it,’ ” said Gu. “We pushed our way through and made it work.”

The team now hopes the community will consider keeping these as permanent structures, with plans to build two more, modified from the lessons learned on the first two.

Five other Common Ground Partner Projects incorporate design and architecture.

Top Stories

A rare chance to change the landscape

CAMBRIDGE — The landscape transformed late last week at the Rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge as fourth-year architecture students descended upon it.

Eleven teams of five to six students from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture were assigned to enhance the site in some physical way as part of a class project.

Associate professor Elise Shelley, who teaches theory and design in the contemporary landscape, said student work over the past five years caught the attention of Esther Shipman, a curator of the partner projects at Cambridge Galleries’ Common Ground exhibition.

Installations for ARCH 425 are divided between the Springbank Farm and Slit Barn sites, weaving themselves into the landscape in dreamlike art installations or more functional forms.

Shelley says the projects are inherently temporary with most of them more akin to art installations than a functional piece of architecture.

In the grassy field beyond the Slit Barn parking lot, a flowing organic form stretches out like a huge amoeba.

It was built from a wire frame and foam strips.

Petra Bogias said her team of five was inspired by Montreal-based Claude Cormier and Associates.

“Taking this foreign object in a field to allow the viewer to experience the site in a different way,” said Bogias. “The wind patterns interact with and introduce a new vertical field experience at different angles.”

She said it’s a nice feeling as students to see your drawings become something tangible that the community can interact with.

“The different ways that they come up with interacting with it … in ways that you wouldn’t have thought on your own.”

Across the road, and up into the community gardens, architect Dan Kiley inspired Jean Gu and her team of four others who noticed the need for water — the source of life for the gardens and those working there.

“We wanted to make something that would give back,” said Gu.

The team proposed a structure that would bring more functionality to the existing large water barrels, while incorporating a shaded micro-climate rest area framed toward the gardens.

The two compact cubist forms raise the barrels to provide enough gravity for the water to reach nearby garden patches. Sitting beneath the trestle roof cools the outdoor temperature by at least two to three degrees.

Gu said the team took the project from concept to completion in two weeks with a budget of $250.

“We just had a simple idea and said, ‘Well let’s go for it,’ ” said Gu. “We pushed our way through and made it work.”

The team now hopes the community will consider keeping these as permanent structures, with plans to build two more, modified from the lessons learned on the first two.

Five other Common Ground Partner Projects incorporate design and architecture.